PRINEVILLE, OR -- Oregon's Fish and Wildlife Commission meets Friday in Crook County to discuss the state's cougar population and management plan. ODFW's Michelle Dennehy tells KBND News, "The last time the plan was updated was 2006. And the plan doesn't really have any major management changes for cougars, but it does have more Oregon-specific research including a genetics and habitat analysis."
"We really manage cougars for coexistence," says Dennehy. "If people have an issue with a cougar, we're really trying to stress preventative measures to take; things like, 'keep your pets indoors at night.'" She says there has never been a documented fatal attack on a human by a cougar in Oregon, "But, numerous fatal and non-fatal attacks have occurred in western U.S. states since the early 1990s."